In the United States, and eleven other countries, the legal drinking age is set at twenty-one. Even though there are several viable reasons why it’s illegal to drink before age twenty-one, many people in the United States believe it to be unjust that it’s not legal to consume alcohol when reaching the standard adult age of eighteen. As appealing as this privilege may seem, by changing the law, we would be overlooking the many dangers that drinking alcohol at a younger age can cause. There have been many studies done on the effects of alcohol in teenagers and young adults, not only physically but also psychologically. Decades of research has come to the conclusion that heavy drinking in teens has caused issues in the formation and functionality …show more content…
Another risk of drinking at a younger age is the increased chance of addiction, studies have shown that the earlier an individual start drinking the higher the chances are of becoming an alcoholic. One of the last reasons the legal drinking age should stay at twenty-one is possibly the biggest reason why it is. Driving under the influence is one of the leading causes of accidents in the US, killing approximately one person every fifty-two minutes. The age group of sixteen- nineteen-year-olds are three times more likely to be in a fatal crash, due to the involvement of alcohol, than someone in their twenties. One of the leading causes of DUI’s is peer pressure, usually from teenagers attempting to impress friends or acquaintances.
Though people believe it would be good to lower the drinking age, we should look at the death or injury rates where alcohol is the cause, compared to the rates of accidents from people who hadn’t been intoxicated. There has been much data collected over the years showing just how much healthier and safer not only the US is, but many other countries have become since raising the legal drinking age to twenty-one. If nothing else, look at the one third of every twenty-five, thousand people that die every year due to alcohol related crashes where the victim wasn’t even intoxicated. Not only does alcohol have life changing effects on the people drinking it, but also everyone around